The National Biodiversity Data Centre
Slipper Limpet
Crepidula fornicata
Documenting Ireland’s Wildlife
Invasive: High impact
Species profile
Habitat:
Marine
Distribution in Ireland: Localised in Belfast Lough.
Status:
Established. First recorded viable population in Ireland
was in 2009.
Family name:
Calyptraeidae.
Reproduction:
Attach to each other to form chains which allows
them to reproduce quickly. Females produce 200,000
eggs a year in Northern Europe. Solitary individuals
may become self-fertile.
Identifying features
Colour:
The shell, which can be up to 5cm in length can vary from
cream/white to yellow and even pinkish with red or brown
blotches.
Grouping:
Slipper limpets attach to one another with older, larger female
individuals at the bottom and smaller male specimens on top.
Attachment: The species attaches to objects with its muscular foot.
Conditions: Can survive several days in cool, damp conditions.
Cream colouring with darker markings showing growth
lines and a curved shell
© RPS Group GBNNSS
Showing the tapering of the shell to a single point
© Paul Brazier CCW
First published 2013
Please report your sightings of this species at:
http://invasives.biodiversityireland.ie
Slipper limpet showing chain formation which aids with
reproduction - Crown © GBNNSS
Slipper Limpet
Invasive: High impact
Threats
Can compete with oysters for food.
Can form dense colonies along the sea bed causing changes to the
sediment structure.
High densities can cause sediment change to faeces, psuedofaeces and shell
drift, which can impact negatively on existing flora diversity.
Their clustered formations on the sea bed can also smother bottom dwelling
species.
Distribution of the slipper limpet in Ireland, the
coloured scale bar indicates the density of records
(Biodiversity Maps)
Similar species
Native limpets (Patella species) have both a different shape and colouring to the
invasive slipper limpet.
Other native limpet species have both a different shape
and colouration © GBNNSS
Common limpet (Patella vulgata) covered in barnacles but still easily distinguishable from the slipper limpet
© O. Duffy
Slipper limpet showing various colours and curved
shell - Crown © GBNNSS
View Ireland’s distribution of this
species on http://maps.biodiversityireland.ie
Produced with funding from The Heritage Council
and the EPA STRIVE Programme 2007-2013
National Biodiversity Data Centre fact sheet.
Text: Colette O' Flynn & Oisín Duffy (Version 1) November 2013.
Biodiversity
Maps